THE FLURRIES OF THE NIGHT SKY DANCED THEIR WAY DOWN,
unto the slippery icy sidewalk on which I stood sternly. The wind blew as if it were a large crowd of many people quickly rushing past me. The force of the wind was strong as if it were attempting to push me down. The wind itself was also very chilling, though that's what you should expect in Minnesota winters. Of course, I had to be spending my Sunday night outside. December 7th, 2030 just so happened to be the particular day that this video game released. Of course, I was clueless as to why such a product would cause such uproar. The only reason I was outside was due to the longest line I'd ever seen was snaking around the game store in which I would purchase said video game.
The line wrapped around the store and surrounding stores on the city streets. Minneapolis was a crowded and lively city as it was already; this line that was most likely miles long didn't make the environment of the city any better. In fact, it probably made it worse. It felt as if I were walking through the ghettos of some backward country on the other side of the world. There were people who literally pitched tents and slept in their cars. Whatever video game this was, it had better be worth it to be standing out here in the below freezing weather.
Standing in the desolation, I thought about why I was here. It's not like I play video games or anything; in fact, I considered it quite a niche hobby for strange people. Apparently, it wasn't niche enough for the whole state of Minnesota to be standing in a long line in front of some insignificant store. I decided to ask the culprit who dragged me here in the first place. I turned to face the taller blonde guy next to me.
"Trevor, what's all this about? What's so great about this game that this line actually disrupts traffic?" I asked. His hair, which was too long, blew in the wind as he tried to answer me.
He scratched his cheek, "Um well, you know this game is the first of its kind right?" He replied.
"How?" I asked without waiting for a second.
"Well, I mean it is the first VRMMORPG-" I cut him off.
"VRMMORPG? What does that stand for?"
His eyes did a closed for a second as if he were flinching. "Huh? You don't know?"
"Well, I wouldn't be asking if I didn't"
"You're right, okay. VRMMORPG stands for Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Game; yes it's the first of its kind. There were attempts in the past, like VR Chat. Though, it wasn't completely virtual reality."
"What's the difference?" I asked bluntly.
"Well in VR Chat's case, it was released in the mid-2010s. So it isn't very technologically superior today. The game was on an old headset that you needed to move around with on, which is quite a burden." He finally stopped to breath.
"So, I still don't know the differe-"
"However, this new game which is called Mega-Quest is being released on the new Dream VR. The Dream VR is a special piece of hardware that actually relays radio waves to the brain and immobilizes the body to actually immersive the player into the game world." He finally finished his speech.
I hand over my mouth and yawned, "So much information."
He clapped his hands together, "Oh, sorry about that. I just like to ramble sometimes."
I wiped my right eye, "I think I can tell."
"Anyway, you get the gist of it right?"
"I suppose I do."
"Man, you're talking like some sort of businessman negotiating a product deal with me."
At first, I flinched at the thought of "Oh he figured out my secret". But in reality, I guess he just really likes making assumptions.
"I don't think so." I lied.
"Really? Doesn't your family own some kind of company?"
So he did know.
"Itsuki International, it's a non-profit tree saving thing or whatever."
"Wow, you're parents really do own one, you must be filthy rich aren't you?"
"That doesn't matter even if I am. Plus it's a non-profit, I'm sure we don't make much more money than the average middle-class family."
"Come on, be less humble. I don't mind!"
I rolled my eyes.
About another hour passed and we finally entered the store. As I entered the game store, I immediately caught a whiff of a smell I did not want to smell. It put an image of an old failing city mall from the 2010s. Though, that isn't uncommon these days with same day delivery. The fluorescent lights beat down on my eyes as I continue to walk forward.
I look around and am genuinely surprised by the diversity of people here to buy a video game of all things. People, that aren't Fifty years old with neck beards and ponytails were buying a video game, who knew? I even recognized some people from my high school, which was pretty young. There were even girls from my school, and even younger, like middle school aged. I was amazed by the simplest thing, though a little worried about those girls' safety in a place with this many men.
We continued to walk through the store. I felt extremely out of place, as many young, hip, and probably poor people were looking to buy something while I was merely browsing. That should be reversed, right? Granted, this is a rundown store in the heart of the city, where poor people tend to live. But still, I don't feel like I belong here.
We made it through the crowds of people to the center of the store. Where a large cardboard display with full-color images of armor-wearing barbarians ripped straight out of some Norse myth ready to slay monsters. Is this what normal RPGs are advertised as?
I look towards the table standing out in the middle of the display, which also had miniature cardboard cut-outs of more fantasy characters. There were cases of the game wrapped in their thin transparent plastic. The game's name was "Mega-Quest: Realm of Realms Online". That’s quite the unique name.
I picked up the game case to inspect it more. The cover was in black and white and had just a man standing with a torn mantel and wearing his hood. He had his hand exaggeratedly pointed out and was his hands looked as if they were grasping something. Inside his palm was some glowing light which I assumed to be magic. He was also holding a hatchet in his left hand.
"This looks so, how you say, over the top," I said to Trevor.
Trevor turned to look at me. "What do you mean?"
"What do you mean what do I mean? Look at this cover art. Why is it so dark and edgy?" I asked.
"Well, I don't think it's over the top per se, more like generic. You have no idea how many box art covers are this simple and overused." He said.
I looked at Trevor, merely confused at what he's trying to tell me. Is he lying to me on purpose because he knows I know nothing? Or is he telling the truth and box arts like this garbage is normal?
"Allan, what's with that look?" Trevor asked me.
I didn't answer his question, "What's so popular about this game anyway? If it's so appealing to all ages and genders, something must resonate with all of these people."
"Well, I mean it has been on the radar of many people since its initial announcement about... Five years ago? It's grossed a large fan base through its beta alone." He said as he spoke in foreign terminology.
"If it's been so popular, how come I haven't been able to pick up on it?" I asked.
He looked at me, blinked twice, and gave me a blank stare. "You're kidding right?"
I replied back, "No, I'm not kidding. I haven't even seen the slightest bit of media or PR from this game."
"It's been everywhere this past year! On TV, the internet, even posters on buses and billboards! You've had to at least have seen it and forgotten about it!" He said with a passionate voice, which worried me.
I grasped his shoulder, getting ready to tell it to him straight. "Okay look, I don't associate with TV and the internet much. You see, I'm sort of in a crisis in which I don't have a hobby. TV and the internet are time wasters; I also haven't gone outside at all either because it's too hot or too cold. Currently, I am a hermit living inside my room reading books. I haven't done much since school started." I let go of his shoulder and glared at him hoping he'd understand my dilemma.
He sniffed then grabbed my shoulder, which bugged me because he's about three inches taller than me, "Allan, I feel so sorry for you."
I immediately pushed him away, "Agh that wasn't my point beanstalk!"
I heard a girl’s voice chuckle, not in a nice way, a definitely looking down on way. The chuckle approached closer.
"My, my, my Trevor, I didn't expect to see you here." Said a brunette with large rounded rim glasses.
"Bridget? I didn't expect to see you here!" Trevor said with a gleeful face.
"Well I did expect to see you here; you wouldn't stop talking about this game." Bridget, the brunette with glasses said.
"Shouldn't you be studying for mid-terms? I don't study, but I know you do." Trevor asked.
She started grabbing her fingers individually and started cracking them. "I finished already, most of the tests this time will be a walk in the park. Anyway enough about me, tell me about your friend here. I've seen him at school before."
"Ah sorry, this is Allan," Trevor firmly grasped my shoulder. "I met him in business class at the start of the semester."
I lightly wave. "Hey."
"My name is Bridget, pleased to meet you." She grabbed my hand and shook it firmly.
I noticed a smaller Asian girl behind her. "And hello to you too," I said.
She came out and waved, "Nice to meet you, Allan." Then, she bowed. Like she actually lowered her body and bowed Japanese style.
"Um, bowing?" I asked confused.
She looked up with a red face of embarrassment, "Oh I'm sorry, I just, a Japanese person, a Japanese bow. It’s a force of habit."
So she could tell I was Japanese eh? That's quite rare to see. Normally I'm perceived to be Hmong, Vietnamese, or Korean if I was lucky. She was different; could she also be of my Japanese kin?
"Sorry Allan, this is Nia. She's a little awkward toward new people. But hey, maybe she felt more comfortable because you're Japanese." Bridget said.
That's two people in a row to guess it right, maybe I'm giving it away somehow?
"Anyway, are you guys here to buy the game too?" Trevor asked.
Bridget lifted her arm and she was already holding a bag with the case inside of it. "We already did! Quite honestly, I'm quite excited to play this." She also lifted Nia's hand with the same bag and case, "And I assume Nia is too."
"Oh, well too bad we ought to wait in line without them huh Allan?" Trevor asked me while scratching the back of his head.
"I guess," I said.
"Okay, well we'll see you later. We'll discuss when we should meet up in game alright?" Bridget said to Trevor.
"Okay, see you," Trevor said as they walked away.
"Nice friends you got there," I said.
"Yeah, there the only ones I got." He said. "Anyway, now that I think about, judging your knowledge of video games themselves, do you even own a Dream VR?" Trevor asked.
"No, but I can buy one," I said.
Trevor looked at me dumbfounded. "Well, you can can't you? I forgot you're not your average city person."
I'm guessing her mentioned that because of my family's income.
"Well let's see here." I crouched down to the shelf with Dream VRs packaged in their boxes. I read out the price tag, "$399? That's a lot less expensive than I thought."
"I guess so, it's still far more expensive than the likes of the PS5 and Xbox Two," Trevor added.
"I don't know what you said, but I'm going to buy this," I said.
"Yeah, buy it. You can't play the game without it."
And so I did, we waited in line for almost forty-five minutes. By the time we got out, I was dying to go home.
"Well, thanks for coming with me. My house is that way, so I guess we'll split up here."
I nodded, "Yeah."
And so we walked off, the weather still as cold as when we arrived.
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